South Africa · Stellenbosch

Reyneke Winery

Stellenbosch wines from the historic Uitzicht farm, where companion-planted vines and low-intervention cellar work shape Syrah, Cabernet and Chenin.

The producer

Reyneke works from Uitzicht, a Stellenbosch farm tracing its beginnings to 1863. Vines share the property with pasture, compost production and wilderness; companion plants compete with weeds, fix nitrogen and loosen compacted soil because the vineyards are farmed without herbicides, pesticides or fungicides.

Syrah is a strong place to start. Biodynamic Syrah 2021 is 100% Syrah, spontaneously fermented with 30% crushed whole bunches and aged for 12 months in foudré, bringing fruit, spice, dry tannin and broad texture into the glass. Estate Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc widen the range, while Cornerstone is the blended red tied to the estate’s worker-support project.

Known for

Whole-farm Stellenbosch wines, with Syrah at the centre.

Notable facts

The story

The First Cellar

Johan Reyneke began working as a farm labourer while studying because he wanted practical skills for running a wine farm. Around 1998–1999, he began his farming business by selling grapes before moving into wine production. His first winery was a cowshed with two cows still in it. He moved the cows elsewhere, cleared the building and began making wine there. The first Reyneke fermentations therefore took place in a farm building that had only just stopped housing livestock.

From the atlas

Reyneke Winery

At A Glance

The Producer

Reyneke Winery works from Uitzicht, a Stellenbosch farm whose history reaches back to 1863. Its wines begin with a whole-farm view: vines occupy only part of the property, while pasture, compost and uncultivated ground remain part of the working landscape. That choice puts Syrah, Cabernet and Chenin in a setting managed for more than grape production, while the cellar follows the producer’s preference for older, lower-technology methods.

Place

Uitzicht overlooks Stellenbosch and False Bay from north-, east- and south-facing slopes. Stellenbosch on the label places Reyneke in the Western Cape’s established wine country; Uitzicht narrows the story to one farm with differently oriented hillsides. The range keeps that farm setting in view through separate Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah wines, rather than folding every red grape into a single blend.

Soil And Site

The site is more than planted rows. Pasture supports animals, compost is made on the property, and wilderness is retained beside the vineyards. Because only part of Uitzicht carries vines, the farm is presented as a self-supporting unit rather than an uninterrupted block of grapevines. Companion plants grow between the rows to compete with weeds, fix nitrogen and loosen compacted ground; those are practical vineyard jobs before fruit reaches a fermenter.

Story

Johan Reyneke learned farm work while studying, then began a farming business around 1998–1999 by selling grapes before moving into wine production. The later wines retained that close link between growing and making: Reyneke describes older winemaking ideas as useful to both the earth and the finished bottle. In the vineyard, this meant working without herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. In the cellar, it meant a non-intervention approach that avoids a range of additives and leaves fermentation and ageing to carry more of the wine’s character.

Vineyards And Cellar

Companion planting is a working part of Reyneke’s vine rows, not decoration. Plants that push against weeds, add nitrogen and break compacted soil reduce the need to treat the vineyard as bare, chemically managed ground. The result begins with grapes grown among living cover rather than isolated vines.

Biodynamic Syrah 2021 shows how those grapes are handled after harvest. It is spontaneously fermented, with 30% crushed whole bunches, then aged for 12 months in foudré. Whole bunches bring stems into the ferment, which can add spice and a firmer frame to Syrah fruit; large foudres provide oak ageing without making overt oak flavour the main event.

Wines

Syrah provides the clearest line through the reds. Biodynamic Syrah 2021 is a single-variety wine with whole-bunch fermentation and foudre ageing, while Estate Syrah 2023 carries the newer Estate-range structure that combines the former Reserve and Biodynamic Syrah expressions in one bottling. Both wines put Syrah’s fruit, spice, body and tannin at the centre, but the 2021 makes its cellar details especially visible.

Estate Cabernet Franc and Estate Cabernet Sauvignon keep their grapes separate, letting each variety bring its own fruit, herbal or savoury register and tannin shape. Cornerstone 2021 is the blended red, with its own élevage and ageing capacity; proceeds from the wine support the Cornerstone project’s work around education, housing and financial independence. Reserve Red 2019 moves into darker fruit, savoury flavour and tannin. Chenin Blanc appears in Estate and Organic bottlings, while Estate Sauvignon Blanc gives the white range a second grape and a different line of acidity and fruit.

In The Glass

Biodynamic Syrah 2021 should lead with ripe Syrah fruit and stem-derived spice, then settle into a dry palate with body, tannin and the broad texture that foudre ageing can support. Spontaneous fermentation and the 30% whole-bunch component make the wine more than simple dark fruit: spice and grip run alongside the fruit, and the finish is dry rather than sweet.

Reserve Red 2019 takes a different route, with dark fruit followed by savoury notes and tannin. That sequence makes it the red for a meal that can meet a firmer frame. Across the range, Syrah supplies spice and weight, Cabernet-based wines bring structure, and the Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc bottles provide white-wine acidity and fruit without repeating the red programme.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Biodynamic Syrah 2021 first. It is 100% Syrah from Reyneke, spontaneously fermented with 30% crushed whole bunches and aged for 12 months in foudré. In the glass, look for Syrah fruit, dry tannin, spice from the whole-bunch element and a broad, oak-aged texture rather than overt sweetness or heavy new-oak flavour. It gathers the farm’s vineyard work and the cellar’s light-handed method into one clearly documented bottle.

Anecdote

Johan Reyneke began by working as a farm labourer while studying, because he wanted the practical skills to operate a wine farm. Around 1998–1999, he started his farming business by selling grapes, then moved into wine production. His first place for making wine was a cowshed with two cows still in it. He moved the cows elsewhere, cleared the building, and used it as the first winery. Before there was a conventional cellar, the first Reyneke wine was made in a farm building that had just stopped housing livestock.

Final Word

Reyneke is worth seeking out for Stellenbosch wines whose details stay visible: a historic farm above False Bay, companion-planted vines, a Syrah fermented with whole bunches, and reds that move from fruit into spice, savoury flavour and tannin.

Sources

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